Life, Thoughts, Movies & More…

Main menu

Post navigation

Ungrateful Wretches Are We

After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.

Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’ “

But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the LORD’s temple. King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”

I’m reminded just how easily all of us forget the good that others have done us. The tale above is one of King Joash being ungrateful and forgetting all the deeds that Zechariah’s father Jehoida had shown him. As I read the above this morning I realised just how true it is for myself personally. We remember the wrongs and the failures of others easily but when it comes to appreciating others we fail miserably.

If you don’t agree with me, let’s look at a practical example. The office. Wouldn’t it be nice if we were all commended for good work more often? Malaysian work culture is such that it’s rare to find colleagues or superiors that actually thank their workers for a job well done. The worst part about Malaysian companies is that they come down hard on mistakes made by good workers who most of the time have made an honest mistake. The sad thing here is that one single mistake often wipes out all the previous good stuff that we’ve done in the past at work. Instead of remembering all the successes an employee has; that one mistake can sometimes mar the person’s career at the company.

It's great to feel appreciated!

Having said all that, I’m thankful that the company I work for now doesn’t behave like that (for the most part) and I’m thankful that my bosses often give us encouragement for a job well done and when it comes to mistakes we are encouraged to learn from them. I’m thankful that most if not all of my colleagues feel bad when they’ve done something wrong which demonstrates a lot of responsibility and care about the work they do.

When it comes to relationships; we tend to do the same too. It’s so easy for us to forget what others have done for us in the past. Being involved with people in church I sadly see so much ungratefulness in relationships especially in couples. It’s easy to pick on someone’s failings and flaws but very seldom do I see people remembering each other for all the good stuff that they’ve done in the past. The worst part is that we can cut someone off for a hurt or offense made against us which affects our friendships and relationships and completely forgetting all the good things that they have done for us. Appreciating people in our lives is not a natural thing – it has to be taught and it has to be put into practice on a daily basis. The great thing about being appreciative is that if we inculcate this habit we’d end up having less broken relationships with everyone around us. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we thought better of others?

Think about it or better yet why not start the day of by appreciating someone who means something to you today.